Class of 2017 (5th Grade) - Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island

Summer Reading Lists for Students Entering Grades 1-5. K.White, librarian

June 15, 2015June 13, 2015 by Naomi Stein

THE JCDSRI SUMMER READING PROGRAM Link to all Reading Lists:

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs182/1101781664576/archive/1121355100244.html

Dear JCDS Families,

Welcome to our summer celebration of books, the JCDSRI Summer Reading Program! The intent of our summer reading program is to promote reading skills. Research studies have demonstrated that students who participate in a summer reading program are more likely to read at their grade level or above than nonparticipating students and those reading above grade level are more likely to retain those skills into the next school year. (Evaluation and Training Institute). While an increase in reading promotes reading abilities and other skills, we want our students to experience the joys that reading brings through marvelous characters and adventures. Books introduce us to friends we will have for life. Reading is FUN!

We are asking students to read at least five books from our booklists. Hopefully, they will read many books.

Each student entering grades 1-5 receives a summer reading program folder containing a JCDSRI summer booklist of various levels and interests complied by Karolyn White, librarian.

The lists are sent to the following public libraries: Rochambeau, Cranston, East Providence, East Greenwich, Johnston, Lincoln, Pawtucket and the following bookstores: Books on the Square and Barnes and Noble in Warwick.

For 22 years, the summer reading program has been coordinated by Karolyn White, librarian. kwhite@jcdsri.com

We wish you a happy, healthy summer and wonderful reading adventures!

Farewell from Mrs. White, librarian

June 15, 2015June 13, 2015 by Naomi Stein

Dear Friends,

After twenty-two years as the JCDSRI librarian, I am retiring at the end of the school year. I have loved working with our students and enjoy keeping in touch with many alumni. I have been delighted to be the school librarian, where I can play with puppets, read fairy tales and sing pirate songs. Now, how good is that?

For twenty-two years, I have loved creating book fairs that have promoted reading and fostered wonderful memories for our students. Although running book fairs for twenty-two years was quite a job, I did it because the students loved it so much. The youngsters enjoy dressing in PJs and going to Clifford Family Nights to meet Clifford the Big Red Dog. This activity became a beloved event. Many students dreamed of “being Clifford” and were thrilled if they were selected. Recently, I met an alum who asked about the book fair dates and who would be Clifford at next year’s fair. Alumni enjoy sharing happy memories of the fairs. Over the years, we have sold thousands of dollars of merchandise at the fairs, which enabled us to get thousands of books, many supplies, classroom rugs, school furniture and more. I am delighted that the Scholastic book fairs have never cost the school any money. Thank you for your long time support of our book fairs!

Twenty-two years ago, I automated the school library-not an easy task. For twenty-two years, I have created summer reading programs. I certainly appreciate the positive comments my summer reading programs have received from school librarians throughout the country. For many years, I conducted public preschool story times, which I greatly enjoyed.

Thank you for all my wonderful memories. I will dearly miss everyone!

Sincerely,

Karolyn White

Read-A-Thon

June 4, 2015June 2, 2015 by jdavis

Our Read-A-Thon was an enormous success! Great job third grade! Stay tuned for more pictures and our final announcement regarding our charity Saving the Animals!

Thank you to Ruti and Karolyn for all your AMAZING support! Did you know that Green Eggs and Ham is translated in Hebrew? Hmmmmm? How can that be?

Free as a Bird……

May 25, 2015 by jdavis

“When you are your own voice….”
― Lity Munche

Above is a picture of our freedom quilt that is hanging outside of our classroom. Each student wrote an original and personal saying that began with “Freedom is……” Come check out this beautiful quilt (made out of paper) that students put so much thought into creating.

During the past two weeks we:

learned about the word “freedom”
discussed what freedom means in our country, our school, in life, being true to oneself etc.
grappled in deep discussions about “freedom of expression”
read “Talking Walls”
continued reading School Story and Pippi Longstocking
discussed our read-aloud The Reverend
continued typing our autobiographies and putting our last finishing touches on the photo album to publish
practiced the last few pages of our cursive book
learned about fractions and how to multiply and divide them

To be “free” in the recess yard….what are your dreams?

It was so wonderful meeting all our special visitors. Thank you for joining in on our math games, geometric creations, building challenges, and tricky brain teasers. Math is so much fun in the third grade!

The third and fourth graders have been knee deep in the Rocks and Landforms science unit. We conducted an experiment with different types of rocks and vinegar to figure out the damage to the environment from acid rain. The children discovered that certain rocks were affected more than others. We also ventured around our own schoolyard to experiment with different soil and various types of rocks. They had to categorize the rocks by shape, color, size, and texture. Next week we will conduct tests on soil in stream tables as we examine deposition and we will find out how to detect the hardness of a rock or mineral using the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.

We have our Read-A-Thon this Friday!!!! We are so excited! This week we will continue to carry out our prototypes from a few weeks ago and begin building our “reading palace”. We have so many great things planned for this special day of celebrating literacy. I am so happy to announce that our theme for the day is “Saving the Animals” and our charity is Animals with Challenges and Disabilities.

Reminders:

Bring in pictures for Autobiography
Read-a-Thon Friday (start packing)
No spelling test this Friday
Bugsy and Gizmo need sitters for the summer…..let me know that you are interested in taking care of them for part of the summer 🙂

Have a great week!

Mrs. Davis

Culinary Arts in the Library

May 7, 2015 by Naomi Stein

Once we started reading about Gladys Gatsby, a sixth grade gourmet cook in the delicious book, All Four Stars by Tara Dairman, the library became the JCDSRI Culinary Arts Department. We began by choosing chef names. After reviewing some material, the chefs brainstormed and decided what type of food shop or restaurant they would create. Choosing names for our establishments was fun! Talk about creativity and excitement! We are also learning about marketing.

Gladys enjoys writing very witty food reviews and to help us become food critics we are having food samplings and rating the different samples. We have had jelly, bread and olive samplings. I am so impressed with their professional attitudes during these activities. Like our aprons?

STEAM, Read-a-Thon, Earth Day and more!

May 8, 2015May 4, 2015 by jdavis

STEAM Week

“STEAM represents a paradigm shift from traditional education philosophy, based on standardized test scores, to a modern ideal which focuses on valuing the learning process as much as the results. In essence, we dare our students to be wrong, to try multiple ideas, listen to alternate opinions and create a knowledge base that is applicable to real life as opposed to simply an exam” -Deron Cameron

*During STEAM week our third graders had fun learning about optical illusions, circuitry, math card tricks, and anatomy drawing. What was your child’s favorite part about STEAM week?

During the past few weeks we:

took a field trip to India Point Park and CLEANED the entire park on EARTH DAY! 🙂 I am so proud of the third grade!
tested the playground soil during science
began planting in our garden….yay it’s SPRING!
learned about currency and began fractions
presented our state brochure projects
began a new Readers’ Theater on the concept “Freedom”
continued learning more cursive combinations and will start implementing cursive into our everyday writing this upcoming week
continued working on our autobiography. We are currently typing our final drafts on the computer:)
explored more “voice” in writing
switched guided reading groups and are now reading Pippi Longstocking and The School Story
challenged and tested our architectural skills and REDESIGNED our third grade classroom into a literacy PALACE on paper. Then, prototyped our ideas using wooden building blocks. Students had AMAZING ideas on how to follow through with the soon-to-be MAKEOVER in preparation for our annual READ-A-THON! 🙂
had Sam Drazen visit the classroom. Wow, Sam is quite an inspiration! The students were engaged and very respectful as he told his story about the various obstacles and challenges when born with a craniofacial condition. Please ask your child about his visit. In addition, ask about how he connects in many ways with the main character August in the story, Wonder.

Reminders:

Please send in a few pictures (scanned or copies) of your child and family etc. for his or her autobiography
Zimriyah this Thursday, May 7th
Special Visitors Day this Friday, May 8th
Read-a-Thon May 29th, 2015
We are looking for summer care-takers for our beloved class pets Gizmo and Bugsy. Please let me know if you are interested 🙂

All Kinds of Families-Books K.White, Librarian

May 1, 2015 by Naomi Stein

Our school will welcome many family members and friends next Friday, May 8, our annual Special Visitors Day. It is such an awesome happy day! While reviewing books about families, I discovered some great stories that reflect the diversity of families. Families come in all shapes and sizes and are more diverse than ever before. Today’s picture books provide insight into interracial families, families with non-biological children, same-sex parents and intergenerational relationships.

Enjoy this thoughtful book list: http://bit.ly/1GAZASK

Some of our favorites: (NOTE We love Todd Parr’s books http://www.toddparr.com/index.html )

Zimriyah Playlist!

April 24, 2015April 19, 2015 by Mike Murdock

Here is a playlist featuring some of the songs the students will be performing at Zimriyah. Please feel free to listen, practice and share at home!

Culture and Diversity…..

April 2, 2015 by jdavis

“Real cultural diversity results from the interchange of ideas, products, and influences, not from the insular development of a single national style” -Cohen

Students in the third grade have been very engaged!

We:

began a new unit and have been busy answer the following concept questions:

read great pieces of literature; Suki’s Kimono, How My Family Lives in America, Good Bye Shin Dang Dong, Jalapeno Bagels, and Me and Uncle Romie
learned how to keep strategy response logs in our RRJ and are doing a fine job interacting with various texts
wrapped up our two novels, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
learned about various forms of poetry from around the world
shared our poems and experience with the poetry bag
began a new read aloud, Junebug and The Reverend
performed Readers’ Theater for our pre-k buddies and held a meet and greet for our beloved guinea pig Bugsy
finished our math unit on division and multiplication
continue practicing the lower case letters in cursive
continued writing our autobiographies and will begin typing our final drafts once we return from vacation
learned about various regions in the United States
began our research and brochure project and students will present with their group on Friday April 17th:)

Assignment:

* Research and analyze information that relates to city and state

*Written Communication

*Oral Communication

*Content Literacy

*Critical Thinking

*Work Ethic

*Create a unique visual product

Objectives:

– Students will research a city and state located in one of the United States

– Students will gain research skills by researching their city and state

– Students will gain experience in presenting and talking in front of crowds by presenting their brochures in front of the class

– Students will foster their persuasive skills by attempting to persuade their classmates to vacation in the city they research

-Students will make their brochure thinking about Jewish families

-Students will work collaboratively in their groups

Information required:

Climate, major cities, population, major land masses (mountains, rivers, rainforests etc.), groups of people, food, traditions, Jewish synagogues, JCC’s, Jewish Day Schools, Jewish museums, kosher restaurants and/or grocery stores.
Find information on at least 5 places to see or things to do for entertainment/sightseeing in that city that a Jewish family would enjoy
Find either a travel package to that destination or research the costs of airfare and hotel
Include a map of the city and state
Include at least one picture of city from internet or other resource

Haiku meets Passover…well maybe! Come check out our colorful wall of poetry on the second floor! In addition, come see our concept question wall and our health and nutrition posters that are displayed on our bulletin board.

We also:

celebrated our unit on health and nutrition
presented our informational posters to the class
learned more about being healthiful and living a “healthy” lifestyle, beginning with understanding food and the choices we make when selecting foods to eat. Thank you Mark Brody (Aviva’s dad) for coming in and teaching us about food and nutrition!
finished our wooden houses that are now wired with electricity:)
continued to love and raise our phenomenal class pets Gizmo and Bugsy:) Thank you to all the families that bring in veggies for the animals and help take care of them on the weekends!
made matzah with the fifth grade

Honor True Self
Forgive with Compassion
Receive ALL of life with Thanksgiving
CHOOSE with Thoughtful Consideration
Dream with Powerful Vision
Act with Bold Courage
Dance with a Light Heart
Relax in the Arms of Spirit

– Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Save the Date!

Annual Read-a-Thon

May 29th

A day of celebrating literacy and reading to help raise money for a very special charity- stay tuned!

Have a wonderful Passover!

Mrs. Davis

Purim Puppets and Pesach Projects

April 3, 2015April 2, 2015 by rmills

Puppets of all sorts were key to our Purim experience in third grade! The students loved acting out the story of Purim as Readers’ Theater in Hebrew for each other using the many puppets of the major and minor characters of the Purim story. Additionally, there was great scenery of the different chambers of King Ahasaverus’ palace and the homes of Mordecai and Haman.

The students described the Purim costumes of the Tal Am students practicing descriptive Hebrew vocabulary of clothing and Purim mitzvot and customs. They then got to make a puppet dressed in the animal costume that connected in some way to the personality of the virtual student. Our third graders did a great job figuring out why each of these imaginary figures dressed in that particular animal!

Our yearlong holiday collage project continues with the students making a collage for Purim. Each of the collages will be part of a third grade JS keepsake. At the end of the project, the students will have a chance to develop their own holiday.

And when Purim was over, we didn’t skip a beat immediately getting involved with our Passover learning. The third grade theme for Passover is slavery vs. freedom. We are using a Haggadah in which each step of the Seder and each Passover symbol is described as reminding us of either slavery or freedom. The students have been thoroughly engaged in a project of their choice that incorporates this Passover theme. The projects include, a three dimensional cardboard model, a clay pyramid, a cartoon, a book, and a poster collage.

Our other Passover theme is based on the idea from the Haggadah that each of us in every generation is supposed to see ourselves as if we left Egypt. This isn’t so easy to do as we live free lives here in America, but an important one so that we never take our freedom for granted! The students enjoyed singing a song about this directive and had fun making a profile of themselves as if they were a slave.